2 days ago
A Taiwan tribunal sentenced the person of a large crypto fraud ring, a antheral surnamed Shih, to 22 years successful prison. In total, 14 radical were indicted.
Published: Jul 21, 2026, 1:30 AM
Key Takeaways
- Shih received a 22-year situation condemnation successful Taiwan for starring the Cointhink crypto fraud ring.
- The ringing laundered $71.3 cardinal USD via Tether’s USDT, exposing risks successful unverified crypto speech platforms.
- Suspect Shih tin entreaty his 22-year condemnation portion prosecutors question to prehend assets from 14 defendants.
Deceptive Credentials Exploited Victims
The mastermind of a large cryptocurrency scam operating nether the sanction Cointhink Technology has been sentenced to 22 years successful situation aft a web defrauded implicit 1,500 investors retired of much than $37.14 cardinal (NT$1.2 billion). The Shilin District Court connected July 20 handed down the condemnation to the main suspect, identified lone by his surname, Shih.
Fourteen individuals successful full were reportedly indicted successful transportation with the transgression cognition connected charges that included violating the Fraud Crime Prevention Act. According to an probe spearheaded by the Shilin District Prosecutors Office, the fraudulent radical lured investors by falsely advertizing Cointhink Technology arsenic “the lone level authorized by the Financial Supervisory Commission” successful Taiwan.
Operating successful tandem with organized pack elements, the radical channeled targets done a web of fake concern groups. Gang members guided victims to acquisition the tether tokens with carnal cash, which was past systematically laundered. Prosecutors revealed that the radical converted the illicit cash into U.S. dollars and transferred it to offshore accounts to conceal the insubstantial trail.
In a secondary furniture of the scheme, victims were instructed to transportation their existing USDT tokens to designated integer acold wallets. The pack past moved the cryptocurrency done aggregate layered transfers to make intentional “breakpoints,” efficaciously blinding instrumentality enforcement tracking and hiding the root of the proceeds.
Data released by prosecutors showed that betwixt January 2014 and April 2015, the syndicate managed a monolithic wealth laundering pipeline moving much than $71.3 cardinal successful full volume. In total, 1,539 radical fell unfortunate to the operation.
The indictment against Shih, who tin inactive entreaty the verdict, and his 13 co-conspirators was initially filed past August by the Shih-chung District Prosecutors Office, which actively requested the full confiscation of each ill-gotten gains.
Though prosecutors primitively recommended a combined 25-year situation term, the Shilin District Court yet settled connected the 22-year sentence.
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